Best Buy Classic Treats Lady Cougs Like Best Buy Treats Its Customers

The Cougs trip to Land of 1000 Lakes did not end well as they went 0-2. But before all six of my Lady Coug Update readers flip out you should realize that today’s victors, South Dakota State, are a NCAA tournament staple over the last decade and even rose as high as the teens in the top-25 a couple of years ago (and Minnesota isn’t a slouch either). In their first game on Friday, the tenth of November, the Cougs took on the Golden Gophers; the Cougs fell behind quickly as they only shot 29.6% but luckily for them Minnesota didn’t shoot much better then they did (32%) and the half time score was 29-16 in favor of the Gophers.

The Cougs came out in the second half and did a lot better in shooting from the floor as they hit 53.1% of their shots and rapidly closed the 13 point deficit by going on a 5-0 run shortly after play resumed. What really helped the Cougs back in the game, and force overtime, was the fact that they hit 50% of their three pointers in the second half. The score at the end of regulation was 66 all. Eventually the Cougs ended up running out of gas and Minnesota managed to put them away late into the second overtime, Minnesota won 87-83.

Player of the Minnesota Game:

Lia Galdeira FR; The Freshmen guard from Hawaii scored a Lady Cougar record of 33-points and wound up with five steals. She also hit seven of eight free throws for an impressive 87.5% Free Throw percentage.

The second game of the week, and the second of the Best Buy Classic, was against South Dakota State on Veterans Day, November eleventh. This game was a lot more like your stereotypical women’s basketball team as both teams had okay field goal percentages (32.9% for WSU and 34.2% for St. Dakota) and high free throw percentages. For the second time in as many games the Cougs found themselves starting out sluggishly against the Jackrabbits. A horrid first half from beyond the arc, the Cougs only one three pointer all game long; but the Cougs still managed to carry a 26-22 advantage going into the half.

The second half was much of the same story as the Cougs and Jackrabbits struggled to find any kind of offensive consistency (the Cougs hit 33.3% from the field and the Jackrabbits from 31.4%). Unfortunately for the Cougs the Jackrabbits hit their three point stride, hitting five of their thirteen shots from beyond the arc and an overall second half field goal percentage of 31.4%. And it would get worse for the Cougs as the Jackrabbits drilled 71.4% of their shots in overtime; the final score was 65-56 in favor of the Jackrabbits.

Player of the South Dakota State Game:

Tia Presley: Her team high 13 points were only part of her contribution to the game versus the Jackrabbits as she also pulled down eight defensive rebounds (that also is a team high in rebounds).

Interesting Stats From The Week:

45: The number of points that true Freshmen Lia Galderia put up in her first two games on her way to earning All-Tournament Honors.

37.7%: WSU’s field goal percentage in the Best Buy Classic.

80: The total rebounds the Cougs had.

1: The number of minutes my preseason “Freshmen to watch” Whitney Tinjum played in the first two games.